The Namibia Qualifications Authority has confirmed the recruitment process of the new council board members is nearing completion.
The current board members’ term of office ended in December 2021 and was extended until the end of this month.
NQA spokesperson Absalom Absalom confirmed this last week, saying they look forward to crafting a new strategic direction under the leadership of the new council, alignment of the council to national planning and strategies.
“The term of the current board was extended until December, then it was again extended until February because there were a few issues to be ironed out. There are no hiccups, so we should have a new council by March,” Absalom noted.
The council is appointed for a term of three years.
The current council members are University of Namibia’s (Unam) Rundu campus assistant pro-vice chancellor Gilbert Likando (chairperson) deputised by Anicia Peters, Unam’s pro-vice chancellor of research, innovation, and development. Other members are Lilia Shaningwa, Beverly Skrywer, Samuel John, Severin Tame, Alfred Tjihambuma, and Deseree Cloete.
In addition to the new council, Absalom said NQA has also prioritised the need to recruit and fill vacant key managerial positions at the institution.
“This has significantly hampered our operations, decision making which is key in ensuring sustained service delivery. To protect the integrity of our education system, stakeholder engagement with all in the education and training sector, employees, the public and the Namibian Police is another aspect crucial towards the realisation of this,” he stressed.
Additionally, he said NQA has adopted a developmental approach to accreditation. Thus, NQA appeals to all unaccredited training providers to apply for accreditation in order to leverage the benefits thereof which include wider acceptance of their qualifications by employers, opportunities to access funding and the overall status of issuing quality assured qualifications that are recognised worldwide.
By extension, accreditation status also protects the integrity of the programmes offered and the institutions’ conduct.
Equally, he assured full support is provided to training providers throughout the application process, which generally takes between three to six months to complete, based on the completeness of the submission.
- anakale@nepc.com.na